Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Jeddah: Al Ittihad coach Raul Caneda will have veteran Saudi Arabia international defender Redha Tukar available after suspension as his team attempt to see of cross-Jeddah rivals Al Ahli in the second leg of their AFC Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.
The two-time winners lead 1-0 after the first leg last week and Tukar is likely to return to partner Osama Al Harbi at the heart of the Al Ittihad defence as the club set their sights on a record fourth AFC Champions League final appearance.
Brazil midfielder Diego Souza (Diego de Souza Andrade), however, missed training earlier this week and the former Fluminense and Palmeiras player's availability for the crunch meeting with Al Ahli is in doubt.
"We are confident that we can win against Al Ahli tomorrow and advance to the final of the competition," said Caneda.
"We have already forgotten about the first leg and the next match will be like a new match for us."
While Al Ahli will have home field advantage at the Prince Abdullah bin Faisal Stadium – where both clubs play their home matches - the Spanish coach is confident his team can overcome the partisan home crowd to progress, just as they did in the previous round against Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande.
"We will be missing our fans in the match as their support will be big for us," he said. "However, we are capable of having a good performance and of getting the result that we need just like we did in the quarter-finals against a strong Guangzhou Evergrande team.
"The match will be harder than the first leg especially because Al Ahli will be fully concentrated on getting a positive result and they will be also relying on their fans to have good support.
"However, we are in good conditions and there is less pressure on our team."
Al Ittihad, who are appearing in a record fifth AFC Champions League semi-final, are looking to avoid being eliminated from the competition at the last four stage for a second season in a row.
After reaching the final in 2004 and 2005 – when they went on to win the crown – Al Ittihad lost in the final of the 2009 tournament, while last year they were knocked out in the semi-finals by Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.